Parliamentary Report: 700 Bitcoin Worth Approximately 40 Million Dollars Exchanged Daily in Iran
An official report by the Parliament’s Economic Commission estimates the annual cryptocurrency extraction in Iran at 1.1 billion dollars and states that 700 bitcoin are traded informally on a daily basis.
According to this report, which was read in Parliament’s open session on Tuesday, September 23 by Gholamreza Marhaba, spokesman of the Economic Commission, the value of bitcoin traded daily is approximately 40 million dollars, and people are extensively engaging in and active in this market, despite the fact that none of the cryptocurrency exchange platforms in the country are licensed.
The parliamentary report emphasizes that using cryptocurrencies to circumvent sanctions is an opportunity, but using cryptocurrencies “in domestic transactions undermines the governance of the rial and reduces the authority of the central bank,” and since it cannot be controlled, it could “create conditions for damage.”
MohammadReza Pourabrahimi, chairman of the Economic Commission of the tenth parliament, also stated on April 13 of this year that between three to five thousand billion tomans are traded daily through cryptocurrency exchange websites in the country, and stopping their activity in the country would be “a mistake.”
It appears that the Islamic Republic officials, despite claims about using cryptocurrency to circumvent sanctions, are still confused and have not been able to reach a specific decision and planned approach regarding this new technology.
The relationship between bitcoin extraction and widespread power outages has also been one of the issues discussed in recent months. Islamic Republic officials refrained from transparent information in this regard, but the stances of social media users and indirect statements by some officials indicated extensive cryptocurrency extraction by Chinese companies in Iran due to cheap electricity in the country.
Source: Radio Farda
